4 Classic Sandwiches – Veganized!

Sometimes you just want a melty grilled cheese or juicy Sloppy Joe. Here are healthier, meatless versions of some American classics.

Have you veganized a classic sandwich? We’d love to hear about it – share your experiences in the comments section!

The BLT: The standard Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato Sandwich You can use tofu strips to make a tasty BLT. Just slice your tofu into thin strips, soak it in soy sauce or marinade of your choice for a couple of hours, drain it and fry until it’s crispy!

There are fakin’ bacon options available at stores but if you’re avoiding eggs or dairy, make sure to check the ingredients (for example, the first ingredient in Morningstar® Bacon Strips is egg whites).

The Sloppy Joe: This American classic is ground beef in a tangy sauce that is so simple to make. In place of ground beef, try TVP (textured vegetable protein), crumbled tofu or Smart Grounds and GimmeLean, which both make vegan ground beef crumbles.

In a pan, put ¼ cup of chopped onions, ¼ cup chopped green pepper and some minced or crushed garlic with 1 tbsp of Earth Balance® buttery spread and sautée until softened.

Add 2 cups of ground ‘beef’ to the pan with 1 more tablespoon of Earth Balance® buttery spread, a couple of teaspoons each of cumin, brown sugar and yellow mustard and ¾ of a cup of ketchup.

Mix this until combined and let it simmer on low heat for 20 to 30 minutes, adding salt and pepper to taste. Spoon the hot Sloppy Joe onto whole wheat buns and serve with vegan coleslaw (we have a great recipe for coleslaw coming up later this week) or kale chips.

The Philly Cheese Steak: A classic Philly Cheese Steak is served on a Hoagie or Kaiser roll with thinly sliced, sautéed onions, green peppers and beef, and covered with melted cheese.

You can chop some seitan or tofu and sauté it in place of beef or just make a sandwich with the onions, peppers and ‘cheese’ sauce.

Here’s a recipe that makes a nice, melty sauce using nutritional yeast. Sauté your onions and peppers in Earth Balance® buttery spread and seasonings (pepper, garlic and onion powder), butter and toast the bun and drizzle the cheese sauce on top.

Grilled Cheese: Vegan cheese is another tricky item as many vegetarian cheeses still contain casein, an animal product. Follow Your Heart® makes a ‘Vegan Gourmet’ cheese that comes in block form and Daiya makes shredded vegan cheese – both of which will melt in a grilled cheese sandwich.

For the butter, which you’ll spread on the outer slices of the bread, use Earth Balance® Vegan Buttery Spread or Earth Balance® Organic Coconut Spread. You can spread MindfulMayo™ or cheese sauce (from the recipe above) on the inside of the bread, sprinkle garlic or onion powder on the cheese and add tomatoes, onions and pickles to amp up the flavor of the sandwich.

I love eggplant “meat”ball sandwiches – even your omnivore friends will be ripping the sandwich out of your hands. You can buy frozen eggplant meatballs, but the best way is to make them fresh. Mario Batali has an amazing recipe, which can be made vegan by using nutritional yeast (for parmesan flavour), ground pine nuts and a little more bread crumbs.

Put eggplant “meat”balls on a crusty hoagie, top with your favorite marinara and some more nutritional yeast sprinkled on top.

I know this is going to sound crazy to some people, but in my family we put peanut butter on our BLTs. It is SO good I wouldn’t eat them any other way. I haven’t tried it with out some sort of bacon, fake or real, but I bet it is good with anything.